Be Ready: is this a call to arms for communicators?

There is a growing conversation about how we prepare the public for a very different security environment. Almost every day, another senior voice is calling for clearer, more consistent communication with the public about preparedness, echoing arguments being made by defence and security experts elsewhere.

It is an issue I’ve been thinking about a lot recently, not least because so much of my work sits at the intersection of communications, government and defence. And I keep coming back to the same question: where are the communicators in this?

Consistency, frequency and trusted voices

Be Ready cannot simply be a government communications challenge. Preparing a country for a changing security environment cannot be achieved through a campaign, a website or the occasional intervention from a senior military, political or security figure. Those things matter, but sustained understanding requires consistency and frequency, trusted voices and communication that reaches people through the organisations, institutions and communities that are already part of their lives.

That is what communicators do. We are embedded across almost every part of society: in businesses large and small, central and local government, charities, universities, healthcare, defence, infrastructure, professional bodies and community organisations. We communicate with employees, customers, stakeholders, families and communities every day.

That reach matters because preparedness cannot only be communicated from the centre. People need to understand what it means for them, in a context they recognise, through voices and organisations they already know and trust. Our value is not simply our ability to distribute a message; we understand audiences, the language that works for them, the questions they are likely to ask and the channels through which we can reach them. Crucially, we also understand that communication is not simply transmission. Done properly, it listens and adapts too.

Causing alarm or building preparedness?

There is an important distinction between creating alarm and building preparedness. People need enough understanding to make informed choices and take sensible action, without every communication becoming a warning of impending catastrophe. Getting that balance right is a professional communications challenge, and one where our profession has considerable expertise to offer.

It is also a challenge that extends beyond the UK. Many communicators work across borders or within international organisations and networks, while our professional bodies connect practitioners around the world. The security challenges we are preparing for do not conveniently stop at national borders, so there is a real opportunity to share learning, understand what is working elsewhere and create greater consistency without assuming the same communication will work for every country, organisation or community.

Communications professionals working as one

This is also where the CIPR can help. It was founded in the aftermath of the second world war, at a time when the role of communication in society was being reconsidered, with a purpose rooted in professional standards and the public interest. Nearly 80 years later, that idea feels remarkably relevant: not because the CIPR should become the voice of Be Ready, but because it can help its members - and the wider profession - find theirs.

Imagine what could be achieved if communicators across different sectors were equipped with the evidence, shared understanding and resources to have these conversations through their own organisations and networks. This isn’t about identical messages dictated from the centre; it is about informed and consistent communication that can be adapted for different audiences and communities, delivered by people who understand them.

Government has a role, as do the media, defence and national security leaders and our professional bodies. But ultimately, this comes down to people. Thousands of communicators, working inside the organisations and communities that make up society, already have the relationships, skills and reach that national preparedness needs.

Perhaps Be Ready is a call to arms for the communications profession. If it is, I think we should answer it.

Chartered PR professional Rachael Clamp is the founder and director of Ardesey.